Hop on the Bus-Plus | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The article below appeared in John Hood's daily column in his publication, the Carolina Journal, which, because of Author / Publisher Hood, is inextricably linked to the John Locke Foundation.

    RALEIGH     The first two times I lived in Washington, DC - doing internships during the summer of 1987 and the spring semester of 1988 - I ended up taking the Greyhound bus back and forth to North Carolina several times to see friends or pick up some extra cash as a newspaper reporter in Nash County.

    I can't say these bus trips were highly enjoyable. They were long, and sometimes put me at the bus stations in Raleigh or Washington at odd hours (in one case leading to an attempted mugging, although the perpetrator was so drunk that a swift kick in the can was all that was needed to send him on his way).

    But I must also say that taking the bus had its advantages. I slept a little and read a lot. I met some interesting folks. Most importantly, the ride was dirt cheap. For travelers like me, a college student living on a shoestring, the time and inconvenience were worth it to keep the overall cost of travel low.

    Despite all the hoopla about rail, today's travelers are still flocking to the lowly bus as an attractive means of making intercity trips. No longer must customers ride through every little town on the way, or make lengthy stops at urban stations. An increasing number of for-profit bus lines are offering direct, nonstop connections between major destinations. They often pick you up at curbside, rather than at an inconvenient or disorderly bus station. You can buy their tickets online, and stay online during the trip with free wi-fi.

    Bolt (a Greyhound brand) and British-owned Megabus are among the many firms expanding into this critical transportation niche. As Time magazine reported last month, "20- and 30-something riders have emerged as the core constituency for this new breed of curbside buses, which are becoming the JetBlue of U.S. highways - fun, cheap, and efficient."

    I went to the Megabus site and priced a trip from Durham to Washington's Union Station. It offered me a $39 fare for a five-hour ride. My, how things have changed - for the better.

    Naturally, with competing private companies delivering good service at an affordable price, the situation is intolerable for the usual suspects on the Left. They accuse the bus companies of skimping on safety - a legitimate concern, obviously, but accident rates are not high by historical standards and standards for driver training and fitness have improved. Critics also complain that service is unavailable to rural areas, which is kind of the point if you want to make it from Durham to Washington in less than seven hours.

    Most importantly, rail aficionados worry that low-cost bus service will undercut demand for their more-expensive preference, which is intercity passenger rail. They want to either artificially raise the price of bus service or artificially lower the price of rail service. But bus customers pay their own way through the fares that compensate drivers, finance the private infrastructure, and pay for the fuel. Rail customers don't pay their way - their fares don't cover the personnel, equipment, and fuel costs. Taxpayers who never ride the train are forced to make up the difference.

    The number of people who can't drive, don't own cars, don't want to fool with driving or parking in another city, or can't afford air travel is large enough to justify other transportation options. The market for intercity passenger service is robust, and seems to be rewarding bus companies at the moment. Policymakers ought to leave well enough alone.

    Think they will?

    Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation and author of Our Best Foot Forward: An Investment Plan for North Carolina's Economic Recovery.